From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
January 24th =E2=80=93 St. Babylas
St. Babylas lived in the third century. He was Bishop of Antioch and
much loved by the people. One day the pagan Emperor Numerian ordered
that a young girl be sacrificed to the idols. She was the daughter of
a king and had been taken as hostage in a war. After this crime, he
went to enter the Cathedral of Antioch to mock the Catholics. He was
met at the door, however, by St. Babylas, who told him: =E2=80=9CStep back, impure and sacrilegious man. You shall not enter here.=E2=80=9D A great hat= red
for the Prelate filled Numerian.
Later, he arrested the Bishop with three of his disciples to submit
them to interrogations at which he was present. During one of them he
ridiculed the saint saying: =E2=80=9CBy the gods, I suppose that you must
teach interesting things to the fools of whom you are the master,
since you have a school.=E2=80=9D
The Prelate replied: =E2=80=9CYes, I teach wisdom and truth to children. As
for the fools, they do not attend my school; otherwise you would be there.=E2=80=9D
After torturing the disciples of St. Babylas, the Emperor went to him, sayi= ng:
=E2=80=9CListen to me, O master who teaches such stupidities to children. T= his
time you have lost, for your three students have just finished
offering sacrifices to the gods.=E2=80=9D
The man of God fixed his severe glance on him and responded:
=E2=80=9CYou lie, shameless man. You do this naturally, since you are son o=
f
the Devil, the liar par excellence.=E2=80=9D
The Emperor condemned him to die. As he was being led away, he
exhorted the people saying: =E2=80=9CAround my neck is a collar of iron and chains. I solemnly exhort you in the name of God to bury them close to
my body, for one day they will give testimony against this tyrant whom
the eternal fire awaits.=E2=80=9D After his death St. Babylas was much venerated in the East and many churches were dedicated to him.
In 363 Emperor Julian the Apostate visited Antioch to offer sacrifices
to Apollo, whose temple he found abandoned. He asked an old pagan why
this was so, and the man responded that Apollo no longer gave
prophecies there because he was disturbed by the presence in that city
of the remains of one man. It was St. Babylas.
Julian wanted to take the relics of the saint and send them away. But
all the inhabitants of the city came in procession in defense of their
former Bishop singing:
=E2=80=9CLet them be all confounded that adore graven things, and that glor=
y
in their idols. Adore Him, all you His angels. People, bend thy knees
before the most high Lord over all the earth. He is exalted
exceedingly above all gods.=E2=80=9D=C2 Julian's plan was frustr=
ated, and the
relics of St. Babylas remained in the city.
Comments of Prof. Plinio:
It is interesting to see that the physiognomy of this martyr is quite
different from what is normally presented to us by a certain Romantic
school of hagiography. This school pictures the martyr always
forgiving those who are inflicting death on him. This is legitimate,
of course. It is very noble and beautiful that the martyr at the
moment he is delivering his life to God, cuts himself off from the
world around him, even his persecutors, and thinks exclusively of God.
It is noble of him to forgive and pray for those who are against him.
Our Lord Himself prayed for the good thief and forgave those who
inflicted death on him.
But what is wrong in this school is to imply that if a saint died
cursing his enemies and condemning the crimes of his adversaries, he
would not be a true saint. He would not have practiced the virtue of forgiveness and the virtue of love of neighbor. So he would not
deserve to go straight to Heaven. One can see an implicit censure of
the action of St. Babylas, who did this, in the fact that his life is
not well known, and pictures or statues of him are not disseminated.
This implicit censure, however, contains a doctrinal error. It is
perfectly legitimate, and in some cases even a duty, to die speaking
the truth and denouncing the error of the enemies. The life and death
of St. Babylas are important proofs of this. It is an eminent form of
sanctity to damage the enemies of the Church and frighten the devils
even after death.
There are two grandiose scenes in this description of St. Babylas' =
life.
First, the encounter at the Cathedral door. One can imagine, on one
hand, the Saint stands at the door, stern and indignant. He already
knows about the crime of the Emperor, and firm and tranquil, he waits
there. On the other hand, there is the Emperor, who approaches the
Cathedral surrounded by sycophant courtesans. The Emperor mocks the
Catholics and all the courtesans are laughing loudly. The Emperor is
the highest authority on earth, and St. Babylas is a simple Bishop.
But Babylas is more than Numerian, because he is a saint. The Emperor
wants to enter, the saint forbids him, and the Emperor is stopped.
What did he have that made him able to forbid the Emperor to enter? He
had a thing that is much forgotten today, it is moral strength. His
presence, his faith, his self-assurance stopped the Emperor from
making the blasphemy he had planned.
The second scene is after his death. The devil worshiped under the
name of Apollo could not communicate with his followers any longer
because that same moral presence of St. Babylas which had prevented
the Emperor Numerian from entering the Cathedral was still present
throughout the city of Antioch, not allowing the devil to give
oracles. Now, another Emperor, Julian the Apostate, was rendered
powerless before St. Babylas.
The personality of St. Babylas was so great that both in his lifetime
and after his death he was able to overwhelm the most powerful men on
earth, as well as the devil in Hell.
Let us ask St. Babylas to give us confidence and faith so that by our
presence we can prevent the enemies of the Church from carrying out
their blasphemous and idolatrous intents.
See
http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j058sdBabylas1-24.htm
Quote:
More and more as time went on did things turn into a battle between
two opponents--those who would preserve intact the great structure of the
old faith, its liturgy and morals and affirmation of doctrine--and those
who would build up something quite new and different to act against it, to dethrone it, to take its place: and the Mass was the test."
--Hilaire Belloc, Cranmer, 1931, pp. 60-61
Bible Quote:
12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart
of wisdom.
13 Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your mercy, that we may
rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us,
and as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be manifest to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the LORD our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us, yes, establish
the work of our hands.=C2 [Psalm 90: 12-17]
<><><><>
Saint Anthony, Zealous for Justice
Dear St. Anthony, you were prompt to fulfill all justice.
=C2 You gave God and His creation the service He required
from you. You respected other people's rights and treated
them with kindness and understanding. St. Anthony, Zealous
for Justice, teach me the beauty of this virtue. Make me
prompt to fulfill all justice toward God and toward all creation.
=C2 Help me also in my pressing needs. (Name them.)
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)